God euer had hath at this time and shall haue to the end many in the very middest of the Papacie that doe not know the whole Mysterie of Romish iniquity but in simplicitie of heart lay hold vpon Iesus Christ and him alone for their saluation They see according to that light they haue many corruptions and enormities bewayle them and shun them as farre as their strength and measure of knowledge and grace will permit These wee say holding the foundation though they may build vpon it the hay or stubble of some errours and superstitions not destroying the foundation may bee saued through the mercie of God in Christ pardoning their sinnes of ignorance and errour vpon their generall repentance We may see the like in the Church of Thyatira there were many that had not that learning as the false teachers in their vaine-glorious bragging termed it nor did know the deepenesse of Satan but did hold fast the maine truth though in much weakenesse and all that God requireth of them is that they be constant in that In the same manner the Lord speaketh to the Church of Philadelphia Thou hast a little strength and hast kept my Word and hast not denied my Name For God doth not so much looke to the measure and quantitie of grace as to the sincerity and soundnesse of it Many godly and learned among them did not by and by vpon the sight of some corruptions leaue and forsake the societie of the Church of Rome Oecolompadius Capito Melancthon and Luther himselfe nay some of them continued in the outward communion of the Romish Church till their dying day as Erasmus and others who thought well of the cause or matter of Reformation but did not approoue Separation being carried away with the mayne streame of the name of Church and Mother Church No maruell therefore if among vs we haue of meaner learning or of the simpler sort that so harpe vpon that string that they haue no eare to hearken to Christs Pipe It is no new thing to see a child mistake and cry out after a stranger in stead of the owne Mother so why may it not be that some in their simplicitie may fall into such a misprizion as to take the Romish Synagogue to be their Mother Church being indeed not so much as a sound member of it but as a disease a Pest or Gangrene in the body It is apparant then that in a corrupt Church some may be sound and so be saued and this we hold of the Church of Rome as corrupt as it is for our Lord would neuer haue said of Spirituall Babylon Come out of her my people if he had none there And let not our Romanists brag of this our ingenuous confession and play vpon it the better to seduce the simple for in truth in standeth them in no more stead to patronize their impieties then the Fathers approouing of the Baptisme of the Donatists and other Heretickes did countenance their Heresies For what is the chaffe the better because it is acknowledged that there is some wheate hid amongst it We doe not say absolutely there is saluation to be found in the Romish Babylon but in the middest of so great confusion there may be saluation for some There is great difference betweene possibility of saluation which may be in a corrupt Church and infallibility which is euer without doubt in the true and Orthodoxe Church Is any so simple as to commit his whole estate into a Ship full of leakes whereof there is iust cause of doubt whether euer it shall safely arriue at the desired Port when he may transport it in a sound and safe vessell Noah and all his if they will not perish in the Deluge must get into the Arke Lot must not tarry in Sodom if he will be safe and free from the common iudgement The people of God must for this very cause come out of Spirituall Babylon both for the danger of infection by sinne and destruction by meanes of her plagues Where therefore the doctrine is Orthodoxe and sound the religious worship seruice and Sacraments for the truth and substance of them the very same with the prime Churches and best antiquity as it is this day blessed be God in our Church of England and the rest of the reformed Churches there is the surest and safest repose for the Christian soule in this society there is infallible certaintie of saluation but in an Apostaticall and corrupt Church as the Romane Church now is it is not so though yet God may reserue a remnant pulling them as it were out of the fire And that with this Caueat That they tarry not in Babylon Thus we haue seene that saluation is onely to bee found in the Church and what that Church is where saluation may be had Now let vs come to the third branch that is by what meanes and how men are to be added to the Church that they may be saued The meanes are expressed in this context and are these three The Word preached Faith to apprehend it And the Sacrament of Baptisme to seale and confirme it This is all required for the admission of any into the Church to heare beleeue and be baptized The Ministery of the Word is the mayne Ordinance of God for the gathering together of the Saints appointed of God to that end and to continue in the Church to the end of the world Therefore it is called The incorruptible or immortall seed whereby wee are regenerated and borne againe and The Word of Truth wherewith we are begotten of God to become his deare children and The first fruits of his creatures yea it is as S. Paul calleth it The power of God vnto saluation Therefore when God would haue any conuerted to the faith hee sends them this meanes Philip is commanded to ioyne himselfe neere to the Chariot of the Eunuch that by his preaching the Eunuch might be ioyned to Christ and his Church S. Peter is sent for to Cornelius to teach him and his the way to heauen by Christ. S. Paul must tarry at Corinth to teach Word of God among them For saith the Lord I haue much people in this Citie And indeed the conuerting of soules is a great worke and great workes had need of potent and mighty meanes therefore it pleaseth God to vse his powerfull Word which as the Apostle faith is mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds and casting downe of imaginations and euery high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuitie euery thought to the obedience of Christ. This calleth the Teacher to a serious consideration of the waight of his Calling and a conscionable regard to discharge it hee is put in trust with the precious soules of men for whom hee must giue account vnto God Hee is made Gods Steward and therefore must bee faithfull
new Ierusalem That great Citie The holy Ierusalem So againe it is called The Citie of the liuing God The heauenly Ierusalem It is compared to a Citie in two respects that is to say Defence and Priuiledge We know that Cities are places of refuge to defend the inhabitants from the force of enemies So is the Church to the true members of it the onely place of eternall safetie Therefore it is that the faithfull in their triumphant Song doe to the praise of God sing in this manner Wee haue a strong Citie saluation will God appoint for walls and bulwarkes And the Prophet Ioel foretelling the state of the Christian Church saith In mount Sion and in Ierusalem shall be deliuerance So that in this heauenly Citie entred into heere vpon earth is our onely securitie of saluation without it there can be no safetie at all Heereupon Saint Augustine alluding to those words of the Psalme Praise the Lord O Ierusalem praise thy God O Sion for he hath made fast the barres of thy gates When saith he the barres of the gates are fast as none can come in so none can goe out intimating thereby that they that belong not to this Citie of God the Church but remaine without cannot haue the benefit of Defence but lye open to eternall ruine whereas on the contrary they that are so in it that they are also of it can neuer be surprized by any enemy but may sing comfortably with Dauid Blessed be the Lord for he hath shewed me his marueilous kindnesse in a strong or fenced Citie Againe Cities or Common-wealths haue their priuiledges immunities and freedomes wherein the Citizens and Freemen onely are interessed To this purpose that Father citeth the definition of Scipio in Tullie de Rep. Respublica est res populi That is The weale-publike is the peoples wealth Or thus The common-wealth is the wealth or wellfare of the Commons It is so with the Church Therefore of this immunitie and freedome the Apostle speaking of the Catholicke Church saith Ierusalem which is aboue is free and telling the Ephesians that before their conuersion they were without Christ and were aliens from the common-wealth of Israel and were strangers from the couenant of Promise and had no hope and were without God in the world he saith But now in Christ Iesus yee which were farre off are made neere by the Blood of Christ and afterwards addeth these words Now therefore ye are no more strangers and Forreiners but Citizens with the Saints meaning heereby that they had now being entered into the Church attained vnto the immunity and freedome of the Citie of God But wherein consisteth this freedome Among other priuiledges it doth mainely and principally consist in freedome from sinne and condemnation for sinne Hence it is that S. Paul assureth the faithfull That sinâ—â— shall haue no dominion ouer them and that being freed from sinne they haue their frâ—â—ie in holinesse and the end euerlasting life Againe that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus By this it is euident that the priuiledge of eternall life and happinesse is the peculiar right of the Citie of God the Church It is also likened vnto a Mother So saith the Apostle That Ierusalem which is aboue is the mother of vs all This semblance standeth in two things First the Church as a Mother doth conceiue and bring foorth children to God by the immortall seede of the Word of God in the Ministery of the Church whereunto S. Paul alluding saith to the Galatians My little children of whom I trauell in birth againe vntill Christ bee formed in you Secondly the Church as a Mother doth after her children are borne and brought foorth feed and nourish them with the sincere milke of the Word of God out of her two brests the sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and as they grow in strength giueth them not onely milke but also strong meate As therefore no man can liue the life of nature but hee must haue a mother by whom hee must bee conceiued and brought foorth into the world and must withall haue conuenient nourishment for preseruation of life So no man can liue the life of grace heere and the life of glory for euer vnlesse he be borne of his Mother the Church and nourished in it to euerlasting life To this purpose is that noted saying of an ancient Father Hee shall neuer haue God for his Father that hath not the Church for his Mother The Church is againe compared to a Vine as wee may see by the complaint of the faithful vnto God in the Psalme Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypâ— c. why hast thou then broke downe her hedges And by Gods complaint concerning his Church O Inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah iudge I pray you betweene me and my Vineyard When I looked that it should bring foorth grapes it brought foorth wilde grapes Our Sauiour Christ vnder the Parable of the Vine describeth the Church likening himselfe to the body or stocke and the members of his Church to the branches I am saith he the Vine ye are the branches It is inferred vpon the words going before noting the due proportion betweene the Vine and the Church As the branch saith Christ cannot beare fruit of it selfe except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me This he further amplifieth in these words He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth foorth much fruit for without mee ye can doe nothing If a man abide not in me he is cast foorth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned All this importeth thus much That vnlesse we be ingrafted into Christ the true Vine and so become liuely branches in the body of the Church wee can haue no hope of life and saluation For saith S. Augustine out of this body the holy Ghost quickneth no man This Doctrine of saluation in the Church onely is not onely thus illustrious by the bright-shining light of so many Diuine Similitudes and Parables but is also warranted by euident and inuincible reason grounded vpon the Word of God 1. It is a Principle vndenyable That there is onely one sauing truth And therefore the Apostle saith that all men whom God will haue saued he will haue to come to the knowledge of the Truth Now this truth is no where to be found but in the Church of God Hence it is that the godly are termed The righteous nation that keepâ—th the truth And S. Paul stileth the Church The pillar and ground of truth And for this cause the Spirit whereby the Church is guided is called The Spirit of truth and it was promised by our Lord Christ
must of necessity be vnited or else there was no saluation for them If a man in this case of conscience being troubled in minde should demand of a Iesuite or Seminary What he should doe to attaine euerlasting life his answere would readily be this You must be reconciled to the Church of Rome But if S. Paul were asked the same question as sometime hee was by the Iaylour what would be his answere Surely none other but this What must thou doe to bee saued Beleeue on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt bee saued and thy house When so many soules with pricked and perplexed hearts cried out to the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe Did S. Peter salue their sore consciences with the Balme of reconciliation to Rome No no Rome had then no Christian being but he vniteth them to the Church of the faithfull by calling them to repentance and faith and to enter into the Church by Baptisme Repent saith he and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ c. The visible Church then whereunto whosoeuer will be saued must be reconciled is the Congregation of the faithfull of what nation or Countrey or condition soeuer they bee For saith the Apostle there is neither Iew nor Greeke there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Iesus Wherefore our blessed Lord hath left vs in this case a sure rule and stay whereupon the Christian soule may safely rest and it is this Where two or three saith he are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Absurdly therefore haue the Romish faction coyned a new definition of the Visible Church wherein they make the most formall and essentiall part to be this namely to be vnder the regiment of one head and gouernour of the Vniuersall Church the Vicar of Christ on earth and S. Peters Successor to wit the Bishop of Rome so that without adherence vnto and dependance vpon this head they admit no man to saluation The grosenesse of this conceit may appeare by these euidences 1. Thus to define the Church in this manner as they do is most illogicall and vnreasonable for a true and perfect definition requireth that it be constituted solely of causes materially and formally essentiall vnto the thing defined so that the one can neuer exist without the other But it is farre otherwise with the true visible Church for that both was and might be defined and thousands of soules vnited vnto it and saued in it before euer the Church of Rome had any being in the world as hath beene shewed before in part How many famous Churches were planted by the Apostles that neuer cast the glance of an eye towards Rome as Corinth Galatia Ephesus and the rest of the seuen Churches of Asia How many thousand soules conuerted that neuer heard of any such vniuersall head or so much as the name of Rome And indeede what should let but that they may be saued without any such respect which haue the graces of faith and repentance and are entred by Baptisme to to which the promise is made in the generall commission Goe ye saith our Lord into all the world and preach the Gospell to euery creature He that beleeueth and is baptized shal be saued Againe if there were such necessity to bee vnited to the Sea of Rome vpon paine of damnation how came it to passe that S. Cyprian as our Aduersaries themselues confesse in a Councell of fourescore and seuen Bishops opposed himself against the Pope and being cut off from communion with that great Head yet died a blessed Saint and was honoured with the crowne of Martyrdome dying out of that communion and as Bellarmine saith neuer found to make any retractation Or if to adhere to this one vniuersall Head bee a matter of so great consequence as they make it that the saluation of all men depend vpon it is it credible that it should be so vnknowne to Gregorie the Great that he himselfe being Bishop of Rome aboue fiue hundred yeres after Christ should renounce it with so many titles of disgrace in one Epistle He cals it a name of Nouelty an impious name a title of singularity and that he which taketh it vpon him is the forerunner of Antichrist with many more disgracefull termes giuen to that proud and pompous title elsewhere Besides how can that be a perpetuall and essentiall part of the Churches definition which was not knowne in the Christian world so many hundred yeeres after Christ but as their owne learned Historians confesse was obtained of Phocas the Emperour by Boniface the third who was the second Pope that succeeded after S. Gregorie Boniface the third saith Platina obtained of Phocas the Emperour with much importunity That the seat of S. Peter should be stiled and taken of all for the head of all Churches Where then was this head before S. Gregorie himselfe will satisfie vs. None saith he of my predecessours the Bishops of Rome did euer assume or challenge to himselfe the name of Vniuersall Bishop We see then how vnreasonable it is that dependance vpon the Sea of Rome should be essentiall to the definition of the Visible Church and of necessity to Saluation as they would make their blindfold followers beleeue 2. Againe it is manifest That as S. Augustine speaketh in those things that are apertly and plainely set downe in Scripture we may finde whatsoeuer doth concerne faith and good life Now let vs search the whole Booke of God from the first of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse and wee shall not finde so much as one word either of prophecie precept promise or president to countenance any such necessary adherence to Rome How then can this be so mayne a point of faith as the Romanists would haue it that hath not so much as one expresse Scripture to ground it selfe vpon 3. And is it indeede so waighty a point of Christian beleeâ—e In what Creed I pray you may we finde it I am sure it is not in the Apostles Creed vnlesse they finde it in some thirteenth new-coyned Article of their owne There is onely the Holy Catholike Church the communion of Saints which for the visible and Militant part of it is all one in effect with our definition viz. That the visible Church is a congregation of faithfull men Saints by calling as Saint Paul speaketh In the Nicene Creed there is onely added by way of explication the word Apostolicke I beleeue one Catholicke and Apostolicke Church to shew against the Heretickes of that time that that was the onely true Catholicke and Orthodoxe Church which continued in the Doctrine of the Apostles As for Athanasius in his Creed hee makes Catholicke Religion to consist in the true Catholicke faith and beliefe of those things that are of necessitie to